Herbert Stone MacDonald was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 lawyer, judge and political figure. He represented Leeds South

Leeds South

Leeds South was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the County of Leeds into two ridings: a north riding and a south riding...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 as a Conservative member from 1871 to 1873.

He was born in Gananoque

Gananoque, Ontario

Gananoque is a town in Leeds and Grenville County, Ontario, Canada. The town had a population of 5,287 year-round residents in the Canada 2006 Census, as well as summer residents sometimes referred to as "Islanders" because of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River, Gananoque's most...

 in 1842, and attended Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

. He studied law, first articling with Albert Norton Richards

Albert Norton Richards

Albert Norton Richards, QC was a Canadian lawyer and political figure. He represented Leeds South in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1872 to 1874...

, was called to the bar in 1863 and practiced law in Brockville

Brockville, Ontario

Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...

. In 1864, he married Emma Matilda, the daughter of David Jones

David Jones (Upper Canada politician)

David Jones was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. He represented Leeds from 1824 to 1828 and Brockville from 1834 to 1836 in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada as a Conservative member....

. He was a lieutenant in the local militia. MacDonald was a member of the Orange Order

Orange Institution

The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...

, serving as grand master for Ontario East. He introduced a bill in 1873 to incorporate the Orange Order, which was passed in the legislature but the Lieutenant Governor, William Pearce Howland, held the bill for consideration by the federal parliament and it was replaced by a later more general bill in 1874. In October 1873, MacDonald resigned his seat in the legislative assembly to become junior judge in the county court for Leeds and Grenville

Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario

The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville are located Ontario, Canada. The population, as of the 2006 census, was 99,206. The United Counties have a land area of . Leeds and Grenville are located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Eastern Ontario, and front on the St. Lawrence River and...

. In 1878, he was named senior judge in the county court. He served on the council for Trinity College, Toronto

University of Trinity College

The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...

 and as director for Bishop Ridley College

Ridley College

Ridley College is a co-educational boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles from Niagara Falls...

and the Brockville General Hospital.